Kerry Kinek, Katie O'Reilly chasing title again with Lehigh women's basketball team

Two players who won frequently in high school seek college title with Lehigh women's basketball team.

Katie O'Reilly did nothing but win as a high school basketball player.

Each of her four seasons at St. John Vianney (N.J.) ended with a state title. Twice she played in the final of the Tournament of Champions, a six-team tournament featuring all of New Jersey's state champs.

Kerry Kinek never won a state title in high school, but she collected plenty of hardware at Central Catholic. The two-time Morning Call player of the year won a Lehigh Valley Conference title every year with the Vikettes and played in three District 11 Class 3A finals, winning two.

O'Reilly and Kinek have continued to log heavy minutes as college basketball players. This weekend they will finally again feel the pregame jitters that accompany a chance at a championship.

O'Reilly, Kinek and the rest of the sixth-seeded Lehigh women's basketball team (19-11 overall) visit No. 1 American (23-8) on Saturday in the Patriot League final. The winner will head to the NCAA women's tournament next week.

"Coming off of high school, winning those championships all the time, it's that much more wanting it," O'Reilly said. "You know how to compete. Winning that is the best feeling ever, so you want that to keep going."

Added Kinek: "I kind of forgot what it feels like, the nerves, just being in a playoff situation, the hype leading up to the game."

Playing American provides extra motivation for O'Reilly. One of the Eagles' starters, senior forward Arron Zimmerman, was a high school teammate of O'Reilly's.

Zimmerman is one of several players capable of a big night for American. Senior point guard Jen Dumiak will draw the most attention from Lehigh's defense.

Dumiak, the league's player of the year, led the Eagles to a 16-2 record in Patriot League play. She is averaging 16.6 points, 6.2 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game.

Dumiak was even better against Lehigh as the Eagles swept two regular-season meetings. She averaged 21.5 points and nine assists in those two matchups.

"She's phenomenal," Lehigh coach Sue Troyan said. "I think what sets her apart, when you go up to Army, the focus is on [Kelsey] Minato, stopping Minato. What makes Jen special is she's not just a scorer, but she's a phenomenal facilitator too. She really does a great job of finding the other person."

No one is surprised to see American reach the league final. Lehigh, however, did not look like a team poised to push for a championship a couple of weeks ago.

The Mountain Hawks ended the regular season with four straight losses, dropping them to the No. 6 seed in the league tournament. The break they had between the end of the regular season and their tournament quarterfinal at Holy Cross gave them a chance to reset themselves.

Troyan helped by making everything in practice competitive, just as she does early each preseason, before scouting opponents takes up more time. When Lehigh started hitting shots early against Holy Cross, its confidence returned.

Kinek has played two strong games in the tournament, averaging 15 points, 9.5 rebounds and three assists.

"Part of the reason we struggled [late] is she was struggling," Troyan said. "She puts a lot of it on her shoulders and puts a lot of pressure on herself. She got off to a quick start at Holy Cross, made some early shots, and that led to a higher level of confidence.

"She's played really well in both games, probably has played her best games of the season the last two games."

Lehigh has received contributions from all of its rotation members in at least one tournament game. The Mountain Hawks had five double-figure scorers in beating No. 3 Holy Cross and placed four in double figures against No. 2 Army.

Saturday the Mountain Hawks can complete a sweep through the Patriot League's top three regular-season finishers. Troyan, O'Reilly and Kinek all thought Lehigh could reach this position.

The Mountain Hawks just wound up taking a different route than they expected.

"We knew what we were capable of," Kinek said. "We had played our best basketball in spurts, but I don't think we had played it very consistently up until these last two games."